Lionel Messi, 34, won this Monday (29) his seventh Ballon d’Or, an award given by the French magazine France Football to the player chosen as the best player of the 2020/21 season.
Awarded at the ceremony held at the Théâtre du Chatelet in Paris, France, the PSG star has extended his advantage over Cristiano Ronaldo, with whom he rivals for individual awards. The Portuguese has already received the trophy five times – in this poll he was ranked 6th.
Polish Robert Lewandowski, 33, came in second, while Italian-Brazilian Jorginho, 29, was third in the election.
The French magazine award was created in 1956 and one of its rules was to elect only European players who played in Europe. This rule continued until 1995, when the publication began to include any athlete who played in European football. Only from 2007 onwards is it what nominees have become from anywhere in the world.
In 2014, France Football decided to include players from the past who were not Europeans or who worked outside Europe in an act of recognition, keeping those who had already been awarded. Thus, Pelé was awarded seven Golden Balls (1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1965 and 1970).
In addition to Garrincha, King of Football (1962), Romário (1994) and Argentines Mario Kempes (1978) and Diego Maradona (1986 and 1990) were also awarded after the review.
In 2020, there was no delivery of the award because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Ballon d’Or received this Monday is Messi’s first in the Paris Saint-Germain shirt, although the evaluation period includes the time he played for Barcelona.
Despite not having won club titles during the season, the Argentine was one of the highlights of Argentina’s 2021 Copa America champion team.
Messi is also among the nominees for The Best award, presented by FIFA. One of its criteria is the organization’s performance throughout the year, instead of the season, as the French magazine does. From 2010 to 2015, the two awards were unified, but in 2016 the highest football entity decided to separate again.
After being off the list in 2019, Neymar was once again among this year’s nominees for the France Football award. The Brazilian from PSG was in 16th position, just ahead of Uruguay’s Luis Suárez, from Atlético de Madrid, in 17th, and behind English Sterling, from Manchester City, in 15th.
Cristiano Ronaldo, on the other hand, shortly before the release of the complete list, published harsh criticisms of Pascal Ferré, the editor-in-chief of the French magazine, on his Instagram.
“Today’s outcome explains why Pascal Ferré’s statements last week, when he said that I confided in him that my only ambition was to finish my career with more Golden Balls than Lionel Messi”, wrote the Portuguese, today at Manchester United.
“Pascal Ferré lied, he used my name to promote himself and to promote the publication he works for. It is unacceptable that the person responsible for awarding such a prestigious prize could lie in this way, in absolute disrespect for someone who has always respected France Football and the Golden Ball,” added the player, who was not present at the party.
Spanish Alexia Putellas wins the Women’s Ballon d’Or
The first Golden Ball of the night was delivered to Spanish athlete Alexia Putellas, 27, athlete of Barcelona. Champion of the Women’s Champions League, Spanish and Queen’s Cup, the midfielder is experiencing the best moment of her career.
She surpassed also Spanish Jenniffer Hermoso (Barcelona), Australian Sam Kerr (Chelsea) and Dutch Lieke Martens (Barcelona) and Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal).
Before Alexia, another barcelonista had already been awarded. Pedri, 19, was the first to take the ceremony stage as an award recipient. He was named best young player and won the Kopa trophy, given by France Football to athletes under the age of 21.
He beat Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Mason Greenwood (Manchester United), Nuno Mendes (PSG) and Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich).
Soon after the trophy was given to Pedri, tributes to Argentine Diego Maradona (1960 – 2020) and German Gerhard Müller (1945 – 2021) were shown, with statements by Messi and Robert Lewandowski.
As a result, the Polish was called to receive a trophy as the season’s best striker. He scored 60 goals in 2021. Considering only the 2020/2021 season, he scored 48 goals in 40 matches for Bayern Munich.
Italian Gianluigi Donnarumma, 22, from PSG, received the Yashin Trophy as the best goalkeeper of 2021.
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